total

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Complete; absolute; with nothing left out.

   The party was a total disaster.

2. 2
   noun

   The full amount you get when you add everything together.

   A total of £145 was raised at the sale.

3. 3
   adj

   Including the whole of something.

   The total number of votes was 3,270.

4. 4
   verb

   To add up to a particular amount.

   The repairs totalled more than a thousand pounds.

Common collocations

• total mess Adjective + noun

From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

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